What do a fieldhouse, synagogue and loft offices have in common?

Farpoint paid $2.5 million in December for the lender-owned site of the former B'nai Torah synagogue in Highland Park.

A Sterling Bay co-founder has kicked off his new development firm with an eclectic mix of projects, including loft offices and redevelopments of a synagogue and an indoor sports venue.

Farpoint Development, which Scott Goodman formed after leaving Sterling Bay last year, is planning to convert one vintage building along the Kennedy Expressway and another in the Fulton Market District into modern offices. Those are the types of projects Goodman's former firm was known for taking on.

Farpoint also is breaking some new ground, planning to convert a former Highland Park synagogue along Lake Michigan into homes and buying a stake in a Logan Square fieldhouse that could be redeveloped several years from now.

"These initial deals are opportunistic, and not necessarily indicative of deals that we'll do going forward," Goodman said.

Goodman and three other longtime Sterling Bay executives, Patrick O'Connor, Regina Stilp and Eric Helfand, formed Farpoint last year. The firm began by opening an office in a three-story Chicago Transit Authority building at 120 N. Racine Ave., where it has a long-term master lease on the lower two floors.

Farpoint is "looking to do opportunistic, creative, fun deals that are also accretive to the community," Goodman said. "We want to change neighborhoods and not the skyline."

Goodman previously said he left Sterling Bay, which he co-founded in 1987, because he wanted to return to running a smaller, more entrepreneurial firm. Sterling Bay had exploded in recent years, signing huge office leases with tenants including McDonald's, Google, Hillshire Brands and Gogo, and planning an ambitious, years-long redevelopment of the former A. Finkl & Sons Steel plant in Lincoln Park.

In its only project outside the city, Farpoint paid $2.5 million in December for the lender-owned former B'nai Torah synagogue in Highland Park, according to Goodman and property records. The 4-acre site at 2789 Oak St., on a bluff overlooking the lake, had been owned by Bridgeview Bank.

Goodman said one of the four buildings on the site could be converted into row homes, while the others are likely to be demolished and replaced by one or two large single-family homes. The firm plans to meet with Highland Park officials as it formulates specific plans, he said.

Farpoint also paid an undisclosed amount for a stake in the building at 2367 W. Logan Blvd., the site of the Windy City Fieldhouse. The building will continue to be used for sports leagues and corporate events in the coming years but could eventually be redeveloped into a new use, he said.

Farpoint was part of a venture that paid $10.85 million in August for buildings at 340 and 344 N. Ogden Ave. in the Fulton Market District, and the firm paid $11.5 million in December for another vintage brick structure, 1308 N. Elston Ave., according to Goodman and property records.

The firm plans to upgrade the five-story buildings at 1308 N. Elston and 344 N. Ogden into modern loft office space, Goodman said. The single-story building at 340 N. Ogden has several potential uses, including as a bar, restaurant, retail or showroom, he said.

The fieldhouse and the Elston building also generate revenue from billboard advertisements, Goodman said.

Recommended for You

Sign up for newsletters

Morning 10

-

Need-to-know stories from Crain's and around the web. Monday-Friday at 7 a.m.

Today's Crain's

-

A roundup of the day's important business news. Monday-Friday around 3 p.m.

Breaking News Alerts

-

Up-to-the-minute info on what's happening in Chicago business right now.

Health Pulse Chicago

-

Your source for actionable, exclusive and inside news and data on the health care industry. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30 a.m.